Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Crossroads: Spain, 1808

The French Vanguard.

This, the second game in the Crossroads series, takes place in Spain in 1808. Set broadly during Moore's retreat to Corunna, the scenario and forces themselves are hypothetical. Further the figures employed are from Alternative Armies Slaughterloo range. While using fantasy black powder figures adds a touch of whimsy, in this particular case their appearance is the only fantasy element, with all troops acting as their historical human counterparts.

The rules in use this time are a set of horse and musket rules I have been developing along the lines of Two Hour Wargames' offerings. However rather than being a skirmish level set of rules, this engine is scalable from having each unit represent a company up to each unit representing a brigade. In this case units represent infantry battalions, cavalry regiments, and artillery batteries. Each stand represents a a division of two companies of infantry. a squadron of two troops of cavalry, or an entire battery with the number of two gun sections present each represented by a single crew figure.

The rules are an updating of an earlier project, now moved to a stand based vice figure based approach. With the plethora of information out there on Napoleonic subjects in particular, a word on my preferences may help. For questions on unit frontages and etc I went with Mark Adkin's "Waterloo Companion" where sources conflict. Of course "conflict" also includes units adapting to circumstances, yet in order for a game to work some standardization is required. Further my personal favorite set of Napoleonic rules is "Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun". While I love a command system that involves written orders, and couriers, as well as force rosters and etc., sometimes that level of bookkeeping does not appeal. As such while my set of rules is not a direct copy of the late Mr. Griffith's rules (what would be the point!), any similarity is probably intentional. Suffice it to say that the rules used to play this game take the point that fun is the goal.

The scenario is taken from C. S. Grant's "Programmed Wargames Scenarios" the main details of which may be gleaned from a look at the first game in this series. For a long while now I've been after having a cavalry fight and with this in mind selected my force from those available for this scenario. Details of the enemy force, the time and place of our arrival on the table, the quality of commanders, enemy plans, and the occurrence of random events were all randomly determined as laid down in the scenario rules.

Initial Deployment.

I would take the rule of Sir John Moore. I divided my force into two brigades, a Light Brigade consisting of:

Despite the presence of some prestigious units on both sides, all troops were rated as trained regulars, Rep 6, in this game.

My commanders at both brigade and unit level were all rather mediocre with a good many plodders. Only the commander of the Greys showed any reap spark (Rep 5).

I had to plan and play through two turns of movement onto the table before the enemy force would be diced for and revealed. This time I would enter from the West table edge, providentially along both roads, AND with a one turn head start on the enemy. I would get their "firstest with the mostest"! The Light Brigade entered from the SW while the Heavies entered from the NW.

The French force turned out to be three brigades, one of horse and two of foot.

Cavalry Brigade:

3 Squadrons Hussars de Jeunes (light cavalry)

3 Squadrons of Corps Imperial des Dragons (cavalry)

3 Squadrons of L'Esprit du Garde (armoured cavalry)

Light Infantry Brigade:

4 companies 1/2nd Legre (light infantry)

4 companies 2/2nd Leger (light infantry)

Line Infantry Brigade

6 companies 1/15th Ligne (line infantry)

6 companies 2/15th Ligne (line infantry)

6 companies 3/15th Ligne (line infantry)

1 battery of 8 guns 8pdr foot artillery

Again all troops were rated as trained regulars, Rep 6, while the French did considerably better in the leadership department with a nice cross section of Rep 3', 4's, and 5's.

The French would enter from the SE, Hussars leading. I would randomly determine their order of march and battle plan as more forces arrived.

My plan:

Clearly my force was not a good one for holding ground. Success could only come from aggressive action. In general if I could drive off the French horse, my cavalry and horse artillery should make short work of the enemy foot. Specifically the 10th Hussars would run at any enemy cavalry it faced while the Rifles took up position in the wood and village by the crossroads. The battery of RHA would deploy to the left of the Rifles.Once the infantry and guns were in place the 10th would retire taking up station on the left of my line.

The Heavies would sweep north of the crossroads and and take the enemy in the flank. I'd hold them by the nose and kick them in the pants : ).

The French plan:

My opposite number would push up the road as far as he could and then deploy, making a beeline for the crossroads. Once in possession of the objective he would set up a strong defense and hold his ground until I went away.

What happened:

According to plan the 10th Hussars had a go at the forward French regiment. In this short engagement the better mounted British had the advantage, forcing the Hussars de Jeune back with some loss.

Hussars Clash.

Surprisingly I was able to keep the Hussars in hand and prevent a he** bent for leather pursuit. However they were not sufficiently in hand to retire in good order and milled about on the spot.

The next French unit to arrive was the Corps Imperial de Dragons. They deployed to the right of the Hussars de Jeunes, nearly catching the 10th Hussars as they reformed.

Regrouping.

I was now neatly positioned to put phase two into effect and hit the reeling Hussars de Jeunes with the Joccian Hussars. Unfortunately at this juncture a panicked boar ran in among the Joccians leaving them in some disarray (random event!).

On the plus side there was a lull in the action during which the 10th Hussar were able to reform and retire.

Help Arrives.

At the start of the next turn the French cuirassiers trotted onto the table while the Hussars de Jeunnes reformed and regained some order.

The Joccian Hussars finally kicked off their charge and sent the Hussars de Jeunnes flying from the field.

Put to Flight!

And again with uncharacteristic restraint the Joccians were reigned in before they could be hit in the flank by the cuirassiers.

Recall.

There was another short lull with both sides bringing more troops to the front. British artillery fire forced the Corps de Imperial des Dragons to take position behind the ridge on the southern end of the field.

Legre Arrive.

As the first elements of the French Legre brigade arrived, the cuirassiers took up position on the French right. With both flanks now covered by horse the French infantry could now press forward.

Cuirassiers Deploy.

Meanwhile with the Joccian Hussars covering the approaches to the crossroads, I began deploying the heavier regiments to their left.

Maneuver.

On the heels of the Legre, the Ligne arrived and wasted no time advancing. Apparently the guns were far to the rear.

Battle Lines.

The French deployed skirmishers while the Rifles occupied the wood and village near the crossroads. All was going according to plan.

The Rifles.

The 15th Ligne deployed into column of attack and advanced on the crossroads. The Joccian Hussars, gave a little ground, conforming to the French movement.

Avant!

The time had come. The 6th Dragoons charged the cuirassiers!

Charge of the Heavies.

The armoured horsemen were up to the challenge although both sides had to retire and reform.

Rout!

The 10th Hussars forward divisions of Legre, routing them. The Corps de Imperial des Dragons, apparently stunned at the audacity of the charge, stood rather than counter charging. It was to prove a costly mistake.

Disorder!

With the cuirassiers out of the way, the Joccian Hussars charged the 1/15th Ligne, routing them.

Wild Charge!

The exuberant Joccians swept on taking a nasty volley from the remaining Legre as they passed...

Victory!

...and crashed into the flank of the Imperial des Dragons, routing them.

With two thirds of his cavalry, half his Legre, and a third of his Ligne routing, the French commander ordered a withdrawal and the game ended.

This again proved an enjoyable solo scenario. One of the great advantages of solo games is that you get to play out the sort of actions that might not make for a good two player game. In this instance the French side was face with some serious disadvantages, and with the random set up and arrival times the disadvantage could just as easily have been mine.

In truth, once having found out the strength of the British force that had beaten him to the crossroads, the French commander would have been better off halting his advance and deploy his forces for a more deliberate assault, starting, say, half a table further to the east.

Scenario considerations aside, the ruled worked a treat. The key concepts support the notions that combat is attritional, cavalry is powerful yet brittle, and commanders do (or don't do) the darndest things.

Next up will be a Plains Wars implementation of the same approach based on my old Comancheria rules.

Those C. S. Grant scenarios in his books (and the Table Top Teasers) are just magic aren't they? I only just stumbled over your series of games M.C. but looks like we played our The Crossroads in Belgium 1815 around the same time you played the above. Really like the way you've applied the scenario across 3 quite different eras and rather different size/scale games.